"I learned a week or two ago that they had decided to cancel the course for next year," McAdams told the Chicago Tribune. "The decision was made higher up than me at the central administration level."

The school came under fire in late February after Bailey, one of the most popular professors on campus, hosted an after-class discussion about sexual fetishes that featured speakers from Chicago's BDSM community.

During the discussion, a woman stripped naked and had her partner use a battery-powered sex toy on her.

As news about the impromptu sex show spread, Bailey and the school initially defended the decision to allow it.

The professor stressed that his students were adults and that he had warned them beforehand that parts of the lecture would be explicit.

He later apologized and said it wouldn't happen again.

Northwestern said their decision to pull the class was based on a review of "how such a course best fits into the university's curriculum."

"At Northwestern University, the dean of a college has the right and responsibility to determine course assignments," spokesman Alan Cubbage told the Associated Press.